Grate-bar



J; A. ALLEN.

GRATE BAR.

Patented Apr. 30, 1889 w f 7 G MVL W 79123 fitter-new a.

arnlwashm wg; mm.

UNITED STATE PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES ALLEN, OF AnAMs, MAssAonUsETTs.

G RATE-BAR.

' SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 402,126, dated April30, 1889.

Application filed October 4, 1887.

' To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JAMES A. ALLEN, of Adams, in the county of Berkshireand State of Massachusetts, have invented. certain new and usefulImprovements in Furnace-Grates; and I do hereby declare the following tobe a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, formingapart of this specification, and tothe figures and letters of reference marked thereon.

My invention relates particularly to improvements in that class offurnace-grates of which the grate shown in Letters Patent No. 212,531,granted to me February 25, 1879, is a type; and it consists in a novelconstruction of the grate-bars, whereby they are prevented from beingclogged or locked in their supporting-bars by the deposit andaccumulation of ashes or cindersand are enabled to be removed andreplaced at will, all as will be hereinafter fully described, andpointed out in the claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective viewof the furnacegrate constructed according to my invention;

. Fig. 2, aview of one of the grate-bars detached;

Fig. 3, a view of one of the hearing or supporting bars detached. v

The letters A A indicate the grate-bars, B B the supporting-bars, and OG castings or sockets in which the supporting-bars B are seated and bywhich they are held in position. The supporting-bars and their sockets Cdo not differ essentially from those shown in my previous patentreferred to, and the gratebars A, so far as their general form incrosssection is concerned, are also substantially like those shown insaid patent. Instead, however, of making the lower faces of thegrate-bars substantially flat and resting them upon the supporting-bars,and relying upon pins or lugs laterally'projecting from said grate-barsto prevent the longitudinal displacement of the. same, as in said formerpatent, I now form projections D D near the ends of the grate-bars andcause these proj eotions to bear upon the end-supporting bars B B; and Ialso form longer downwardly-extending projections E E on said grate-barsfor the purpose of constituting thestops which are to limit thelongitudinal movement Serial No. 251,447. (No model.)

of said bars. The points or edges of the pro- I jections D D arepreferably in line with thebecoming cooked and hardened by heat, so asto prevent altogether the removal and shifting of the grate-bars, orrendering such oper ation at least very difficult. In the presentconstruction, however, the points or projections D furnish edgebearings, which rest upon the top face of the supporting-bars betweenthe fingers, and in the raking of the grate vibrate backward and forwardto a limited extent upon the supporting-bars, thus by a scrapingoperation keeping clean the upper faces of the supporting-bars andpreventing the accumulation of any ashes or cinders thereupon. tionwhich each grate-bar is permitted to have on its support is limited bythe amount of space left between the downwardly-extendv ing projectionsE and the proximate sides of the supporting-bars B.

Itshould be here remarked that the proj ections D offer no obstructionto the drop ping of ashes andcinders through the grate, nor do they,when they strike the sides of the supporting-bars in the operation ofcleaning the grate, tend to wrench and rack said supporting-bars intheir sockets or seats, as did the laterally-projecting limiting-stopsinthe former construction of grate, which came in contact with the fingersof the supporting bars at a point removed from the center of said bars,thereby exerting quite a leverage. The said projections E are located atthe proper points to permit of the proper expansion and contraction ofthe grate-bars, and to allow of the aforesaid limited longitudinalmovement of the latter, but not so as to permit a movement that wouldenable said bars to touch the back wall or door-plates in the fire-boxand interfere with the maintenance of a clear air-space at both ends ofthe grate.

In the constructions heretofore patented the edge bearing has beenplaced on the support- The amount of reci rocatin 'mo-.

ing-bar and the broad bearing on the gratebar; but the disadvantages ofsuch construction are obvious. In the first place, the support affordedthe teeth is insufficient to give the necessary lateral strength, as thebars are necessarily narrow, to permit the ashes to clear, and, second,when the stops are placed inside of the supporting-bars to limit thelongitudinal movement of the grate-bars, they have to be very long, inorder that they may come in contact with the supporting-bar at a pointlow enough down to prevent the twisting of the bar, rendering them weakand liable to be broken, this having given rise to the practice offorming the grate-bars wide at the center with deep shoulders at theends. \Vith my present construction, however, it will be seen thatwithout employing any additional stock in the grate-bars, the shouldersE, which may be Very short, will come in contact with the body of thesupporting-bar on a line between its supports, and the said bar andteeth may be as Wide as necessary and stillbe effectually cleared fromashes by the edges D, which edges do not ofier any material resistanceto the movement of the grate-bars. Further,

this construction permits the air to circulate freely up and around thegrate-bars between the teeth, preventing the burning and crystallizationof the teeth at the bases, and also permits any ashes to pass freelythrough onto the supporting-bar, from where they are removed, as beforedescribed.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is- 1. Thecombination, with the supportingbars having the separating and spacingfingers with flatbearing-surfaees between them, of the grate-barsprovided with projections 011 the under side terminating in transverseedges for resting upon the fiat bearing-surfaces between the fingers ofthe supportingbars, as set forth.

2. The combination, with the supportingbars having the separating andspacing fingers with flat bearing-surfaces between them, of thegrate-bars provided with projections on the under side terminating intransverse edges for resting upon the flat bearing-surfaces between thefingers of the supportingbars, and other projections on said grate-barsfor abutting against the supporting-bars to.

limit the longitudinal movement of the gratebars, substantially asdescribed.

JAMES A. ALLEN.

Witnesses:

B. F. REYNOLDS, ALBERT E. MAYNARD.

